Kevin Kyle signed for Rangers in 2012. Picture: SNS/Jeff Holmes

Now retired, the 37-year-old, in an interview with Open Goal, criticised the club for “bad financial play” in the contracts they handed out to players while they were in the fourth tier having been accepted into the SFL as it was back then.

Kyle had left Hearts in March 2012 and had been close to signing a deal with St Johnstone after Steve Lomas had offered him “£600-700-a-week” when then Rangers boss Ally McCoist invited him to train at Murray Park for two weeks.

After two weeks Kyle approached McCoist explaining he had an offer to play in the top-flight but Rangers were keen to sign him and negotiate a deal.

“I thought if I can get f*****g £700-800 I’d be over the moon,” he told Simon Ferry.

“I walked in and the gaffer said ‘right Kevin, what are you after?’. I’m not sure what came over me I went ‘I want the same money I was getting at Hearts’. £150,000 a year.

He added: “I went out, f*****g nervous, thinking what have I just said there? I’m thinking I’ve killed myself.”

Rangers came back with an offer of £100,000-a-year with a £1,000 appearance fee on top of that, much to the delight of Kyle.

The former Sunderland and Kilmarnock striker admitted that it was not just him who was receiving substantial money from Rangers for playing in the fourth tier.

He said: “What Ian Black was getting, Temps (David Templeton) was getting, Dean Shiels was getting, should never have got.

“That’s not me disrespecting Rangers that’s just bad, bad financial play from Rangers behalf. I chanced my arm and got a decent deal. Rangers didn’t need to spend all that finance to get out the league they were in.”